idiot govt...

These burn bans have nothing to do with safety, they are strictly for emissions. Because idiots in neighborhoods burn wet leaves people farther out in the country have to suffer for it.

Last time I had a guy come in and do a BIG burn for me he stacked it with an excavator, filled all the holes with brush, used a fan and after a few minutes there was NO smoke to speak of. The center was incredibly hot. We burned on a day when it was raining (cleanest air and safest) The pile was hot enough to restart for a week. I kept pushing the remnants together with the tractor.

Can't explain that to someone who issues regulations for a living.

I'm all for safety, that's why my best idea is to soak the pile in gasoline! One match and the whole thing is gone in 5 minutes, I spray it down. Of course there'll be a black clould the size of Rhode Island in the air, but it will be high enough by then they can't locate me!

(just kidding)

Besides I'm sure we are constantly being monitored by satellite anyway. I heard this on the radio I hear through the fillings in my teeth.

Re: idiot government (long rant)

Larry, the trick is to try to be the man your dad was. (I try). I've let a couple of kids sit on my Ford backhoe and dig with the backhoe idling. I surprised their faces weren't permanently distorted by having their smiles go from ear to ear.

Re: idiot govt...

DEL, I tried that stunt with gasoline once and almost went up in smoke myself!! I have a 25 gallon spray tank on wheels and keep it filled with diese and spray my brush piles with the diesel. It won't explode like gasoline, lots safer and burns longer and hotter!

Re: idiot govt...

I know some of the contractors around here are using the fans to burn the big piles.

I'm trying the poor man fan myself. I dug out a stump where I'll be burning for the next year or two. I built a ramp into the hole with the FEL and put the spoil aside to use later on to smother the fire. I actually dug out two stumps that were close to each other but the second had a very shallow root system and I did not have to dig deep. This turned out to be a good thing I think. The wood I piling up over the hole wont fit into said dimple in the ground. The end of the wood sits a couple feet outside the hole. When I start the burn the wood will burn out in the middle and fall into the hole. I'm hoping that that the hole will concentrate the heat and make it much less painfull when I have to get near the burn to push stuff further into the pile. I'm hoping that during the first hour or so of the burn the hole will allow air to get under the fire and then sucked up into the fire from below mimiking the fan the contractor's use.

It will be awhile before I get enough wood stacked before I can try this. Today we are getting a good rain so tomorrow would be a good day to burn. But I don't have the pile I need. I have another burn pile, the biggest one I"ll do at the house site. I"m going to build the burn pile on the hole as big as the house site one to see what happens. My house site pile does not have road access so if it goes out of control it will be harder for the FD to get at it. My fire hole is right on my road so the FD could just drive up and barely unroll a hose. 8-)

I noticed the pile I burnt a couple weeks back had very little smoke. Those leaves are a whole new ball game. I was driving through town last fall and someone was burning a pile. There was a temp inversion and a good part of the town was smothered in smoke from a single leave burn. It was unreal. But since he was a homeowner he could do the burn. Go figure.....

The county had a bad bunch of wildfires last weekend for some reason. Well, the reason is the people were stupid. Today is the first rain in about 10 days and a wind had kicked up on Saturday so the people were nuts to be burning. I wait for the day or so after a good rain. And no wind....

I have to be careful with burns because the State Ranger for the county has an office about a mile away from the property as the grow flies. Nice folks...

Re: idiot government (long rant)

Thanks Larry,
I feel the same way about my Grandpa as you did your Dad. When I was little and people would ask me who my hero was I'd say my Grandpa. Would've liked to have said my Dad but he was killed in the army in Korea when I was 2. We lived on my grandparents ranch after that and my grandparents pretty much raised me.

Re: idiot government (long rant)

Don't know why people have to burn leaves - they decompose so quickly you can mulch/compost them easily. I found the best time to burn is at dusk. Usually no or little wind at that time which is what can make things "get away" from you.